So allow us to introduce an exciting addition to your first-date arsenal: Umami, an Asian
restaurant that passes all three requirements with flying colors, opening late next week in Brookline.

Sleek, minimal and plentifully sake-stocked, Umami is where you’ll want to take that next irresistible
courtee who has a hankering for Asian food and a fondness in her heart for Washington Square.

You’ll start at the seven-seat mahogany bar for a Garden Breeze (junmai sake, gin, thyme,
cucumber), a beer and some Sautéed Shiitake Mushrooms. As you shift the conversation into second
gear, you’ll proceed to a handmade table to pore over a menu packed
with Asian-ness like Simmered Sea Bass—it’s sautéed in sake and served with green tea
noodles—and less-Asian-ness like Savory Colorado Elk Loin (which should earn you bonus points if
your date is big on game meat... or hails from the Rockies).

Finally, you’ll want to enjoy the cool summer air on the front patio with a few jugs of 7 Swordsmen Sake,
produced in one of the oldest breweries in Japan.